Exaptation in Action: Understanding Disease from the Dark Side of the Moon

Dr. Sean Laverty spoke at the Data + Creativity Meetup, sharing how researchers have exapted an algorithm previously used to guide spacecraft in the Apollo moon missions to study the spread of deadly human pathogens.

Kelley France, an undergraduate research assistant in mathematics at the University of Central Oklahoma, attended. She told us, “My biggest takeaway from the Data + Creativity Meetup was to think about expanding my current circle of friends and colleagues. When we get out of our comfort zone and open ourselves up to new people in different industries it provides the opportunity for unique collaboration… Another thing that I really loved about this meetup was the fact that everyone actually talked to each other… I met some really great people in several different industries and genuinely had a good time. Exaptive was a great host!”

Determining congressional districts is traditionally a behind-the-scenes process with a track record of interesting results, even though it is crucial to our democracy. However, using the tools of data science it is possible to define open ways to cluster states into congressional districts in a fair way.